


again, for the first time

by MisgivingTree



Category: OMORI (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Hikikomori Route, Horror - Sneaking suspicion that you're forgetting something important, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Non-Verbal Character, POV Second Person, Stuck in a Mirror Universe and Character is Slowly Forgetting Original Universe, mentioned disordered eating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:00:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28851738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MisgivingTree/pseuds/MisgivingTree
Summary: It's a beautiful day.(Warning: OMORI recently came out and this fic contains spoilers, even if they aren't incredibly explicit.)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 105
Collections: Bulletproof 20/21





	again, for the first time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [acuratoroflight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/acuratoroflight/gifts).



The sun is warm on your skin as you wake, still sprawled out on Mari's picnic blanket. "Finally waking up, Omori?" Mari asks, stroking your hair. "I'm sorry if we woke you! You're so cute when you're sleeping, little brother." She smiles down at you, the sun's rays framing her head. The sky isn't too bright as it filters through the leaves, Mari's food rests comfortably in your belly, and you're in the middle of all of your friends. You're resting on Mari's lap, but the top of your head brushes against Aubrey's knees, and Kel's hand rests haphazardly on your lower back. Hero's laughing behind you. Gang's all here. 

"Oh, Omori's awake!" Basil sounds so excited at the prospect. You shake your head, as if to let the sleepiness fall out of your ears, and push yourself up into a sitting position. Kel snores as his hand falls off of your body. "I hope you don't mind that I took a picture of you while you were sleeping, hehe... You all looked so cute, I couldn't resist!" 

You're not sure if you feel slightly annoyed because you're groggy, because Basil took a picture without your knowledge again, or both, but you try to suppress the feeling. It's pointless to be mad at Basil. This is a perfect world. Nothing bad ever happens here. Besides, you're friends, and you'd do anything for each other. This is the least you can do. Wordlessly, you nod, pulling yourself up so you can sit by Basil's side of the picnic blanket. 

"Here! Take a look." He hands you the instant photo, which has only just finished developing. 

It's a pretty nice picture. Even though it wasn't staged at all, there's a certain quality to it that makes it seem like you were all meant to curl up like this together. Even Kel, whose shirt and face are covered in watermelon seeds and juice, looks adorable in his own way. It's a memory of a happy day that will last forever. 

(You think you've seen it before.) 

"Omori?" Basil's voice has gone a pitch higher. He's always really in-tune with your emotions. Most of the time it's nice that he's so attentive of you in ways that others aren't, but sometimes you wish that you could have some true private time alone in your own head. "Is something wrong?" You blink and look back up at him. After a moment's consideration, you shake your head and hand the photo back to him. He looks a little uncertain, but smiles back at you and nods. "Okay! If there's something wrong, you can always tell me, you know? You're my best friend!" 

You nod. Berly and Van play tetherball behind Basil. You're always really impressed by how strong Berly's punches are; she really never wimps out. One of these days, she's going to lose that ball. You can feel it in your soul. 

(You know that she already has.) 

Your head rings. You grimace, shaking your head, and look closer. No... the tetherball is still attached to the rope. Berly whacks it with all her might, letting it spin around the pole. You watch extremely intently, trying to see if the ball will fly off into the Vast Forest. It doesn't. It stays in place, and then Van very carefully unwraps the ball from the pole. 

A warm hand presses against your forehead. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Basil's eyebrows are knit in worry. "Those fish tacos didn't disagree with you, did they? I know you sometimes have issues with spicy food." 

"I tried to cut down on the jalapenos in Omori's serving," Mari says behind you. "Did I accidentally give you someone else's food?" 

You shake your head and smile at them, giving them a thumb's up. Mari smiles, and Basil sighs in relief. "I'm glad to hear it," Basil says. "I wouldn't want this day to get ruined by anything." 

(SOMETHING flickers behind the tall tree, and then disappears. You shiver.

You didn't see anything.)

* * *

Hero lingers towards the back of the party as you venture through Pyrefly Forest, giving you a wide berth as you slice through spiderwebs. You feel as if you can remember being as afraid of spiders as he is, but _why_ you were afraid of spiders has completely eluded you. You think that it's reasons like this why he fits in with the rest of your friend group despite being three years older. He might be mature most of the time, but he has a childish side too. 

"Hey Aubrey, could you quit being so slow?" Kel groans. "I'm tired of being in this creepy place!" 

Aubrey huffs directly behind you. You turn around. She spins on her heel to glare at Kel. "Ugh, Kel! We can't rush cutting down spiderwebs! Omori is doing his best, don't be rude." 

"There's a whole three feet between you and Omori. You could speed up!" 

You note that Hero is being notably quiet during this argument, not even telling them to quit arguing, or laughing this off as "a typical Aubrey and Kel fight" (which it is). He's practically glued to his little brother's back, trembling. 

Listening to your friends bicker is somewhat nostalgic.  
(Nostalgic?)  
Still, it's better to move forward. You slash through a spiderweb with your knife. 

(Your friends never question why you have one. You've never questioned why they never ask. It just feels natural to have it on you, an extension of your own hand.) 

Something prickles on the back of your neck as you walk towards a clearing. You stop, staring at the tall trees in front of you. 

You remind yourself that none of these trees is your favorite. Do you even have a favorite tree?  
—You do not have a favorite tree. 

You grit your teeth and walk towards Mari's picnic. The single block of tofu doesn't look particularly appetizing, but Mari made it for you, because she loves you, so it has to be good. It's going to make you feel better and stronger. 

(SOMETHING is watching you. You can feel its eyes on you as you eat.)

* * *

By the time you explore Snowglobe Mountain, you feel deeply uneasy. And not just because some mysterious "SXH" person is telling you to turn back through the parrots scattered around the landscape. 

The snow is cold on your feet, but your socks never get wet, and it's not unbearably cold. The healing cuts hidden by your striped pajama shorts don't sting in the air. All the snow is unblemished and shining. It's perfect. Aubrey twirls in the snow, giggling, and Kel tosses snowballs at some Snowbunnies. Aubrey's too caught up in her own enjoyment of the falling snow to mind Kel's harassment. 

Even though everything is white, all around you... you get the feeling that SOMETHING is lurking in the shadows. 

"Do you want to check out my photo album?" Basil asks for what must be the two hundredth time as you sit down on Mari's immaculate picnic blanket, untouched by snow. 

Unable to stand it any longer, you grasp onto Basil's wrist. He frowns. "Omori? You look a little upset." He tries to smile at you reassuringly. "Do you need a hug? I'm always happy to give you a hug, hehe." Without waiting for a response, he throws his arms around you, hugging you tightly. 

One of the things that you always liked about Basil is that he isn't as athletic as Kel, or as strong as Aubrey. He's not big like Hero. He's small. You feel like an equal when Basil hugs you. He's embracing you intensely, but you don't feel smothered by it. You hug him back. 

His flower crown isn't wilting in the snow. 

Suddenly, his body stiffens. "Omori? Is—is there something...?" SOMETHING extremely cold presses against your back. Basil laughs nervously, backing away. "Haha... must be seeing things!" His eyes look crazed, his smile tense.

Aubrey stops spinning and pouts. "Basil, you're acting weird. Everything okay?" 

"You too, Omori." Kel gets out of his lounging position to sit cross-legged and stare up at you, frowning. "Is there something that you guys aren't telling us?" 

"You can tell us anything," Hero says, smiling faintly. "We know you're both fairly shy and reserved, but that's what friends are for. We'd like to ease your worries, if we can." 

"̷B̸r̸e̵a̶t̵h̷e̴ ̴i̴n̸,̵ ̵b̷r̵e̷a̶t̷h̵e̴ ̴o̶u̶t̴.̶"̵ Sweat prickles behind your ears. "̸I̶t̸'̴s̸ ̸g̸o̴i̵n̴g̶ ̴t̴o̷ ̷b̷e̶ ̴o̸k̶a̷y̸,̷ ̸l̵i̵t̸t̶l̷e̶ ̴b̵r̷o̴t̴h̵e̵r̷.̶ ̴D̷o̶n̶'̵t̵ ̴b̴e̵ ̵a̸f̵r̵a̸i̸d̷.̵"̶

SOMETHING is watching you intently, judging you as you try to quiet your anxiety attack. Suddenly, you hate that you're up so high. You could fall. You can't steady your breathing. You try to calm yourself by looking at your own hands, but they're covered in strands of long black hair and wooden splinters and—

* * *

Waking up is always miserable, but especially at night. You'd much rather be having a nightmare than have to spend another minute in this godforsaken room. Being awake during the day is awful; being awake at night is hellish. 

You stare at the ceiling. Your body feels deeply wrong when you're awake. You've spent the past four years more or less confined to these four walls, wasting away in your bed. Your body has suffered the consequences. You were always small, and you haven't grown much between the ages of twelve and sixteen. You're not sure if constantly forgetting to eat is the culprit, or if not doing anything more strenuous than washing the dishes is more to blame. 

Either way, this body still feels too big for you, and you don't recognize yourself in the mirror. Even when you try to pare it down, it remains unwieldy. When you get out of bed, your head spins. 

You go towards to door, since maybe a glass of water will make your heart stop racing. 

SOMETHING is lingering in the doorway, watching you. You're sleeping in its bed. Of course it wants to come back in. "̶I̵ ̶l̸o̵v̴e̵ ̶y̷o̵u̷,̷"̵ it says. "̵I̴'̷m̷ ̸p̴r̴o̶u̶d̷ ̶o̵f̴ ̸y̷o̶u̴.̴ ̶Y̷o̴u̶'̶r̴e̷ ̴s̷o̶ ̷s̶t̶r̶o̷n̶g̶.̴"̵

You take a few steps back and shake your head, gritting your teeth and hugging your arms. 

There's nothing there when you open your eyes. 

You stare at the door and crawl back into bed, watching it intently as you fall back into sleep.

* * *

You've been here for as long as you can remember. 

Same familiar black light bulb, same tissue box, same laptop displaying a picture of an OMORI piano. Mewo dozes in the corner and asks the same familiar question. "Waiting for something to happen?" she mews, stretching out two lazy paws. 

When you open the door, your friends are waiting for you. 

"Hey, it's Omori!" Aubrey bounces up from the card game that she was playing and rushes towards you. 

"Haha, feels like we were waiting for you forever." Kel beams. His wide grin never fails to make you feel like you're at home. 

"Mari set up a picnic at the playground. Do you want to go?" Hero asks, not pressing. You're pretty sure that he'd accept it if you said "no." 

But... a picnic sounds nice. Warm sun on your skin, delicious food made by Mari. Precious memories created with precious friends. It all sounds so pleasant. Nothing bad can happen at a picnic, when everybody is relaxed and happy. You can forget about the recital and the practicing—

There is no recital. 

You smile at Hero and take his hand, nodding. Aubrey twirls and Kel scratches the back of his head, laughing, as you head out of your beloved clubhouse into the Vast Forest, where Mari lives and is safe.


End file.
